Laugh at Life

You grow up the day you have your first real laugh - at yourself.
- Ethel Barrymore

Laugh at yourself and at life.
Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity,
but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain,
cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective
that seemingly terrible defeat and worry
with laughter at your predicaments,
thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution
that is certain to come. Never take yourself too seriously.
- Og Mandino

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
- Mark Twain

Today is your day to laugh at life.
Laugh loud - laugh often.
Laugh at what's funny - laugh at what's sad.
Laugh at me - laugh at you - laugh at life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: As a Child Again - Halloween

The Need for Humor

Do Something Crazy

What lessons might Halloween hold for us?
    

A Calming Breath

Breath by breath, let go of fear, expectation, anger,
regret, cravings, frustration, fatigue.
Let go of the need for approval.
- Lama Surya Das

Breathe.
Let go.
And remind yourself that this very moment is the only
one you know you have for sure.
- Oprah Winfrey

Move to your heart, Breathe.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply - slowly -
fill your lungs with love and gratitude -
exhale each and every trouble -
again and again - gratitude in, troubles out.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's affirmation:
Slowly and Deeply, I Inhale a Calming Breath.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Cleansing Fire of Spirit

Gratitude for THIS Moment

Conscious Breathing to Relieve Stress

Fake It 'Til You Make It
   

The Dangers of False Knowledge

The book of life is filled with incoherent riddles.
Life's true lessons are inscribed in a corner of the margin.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Read more about The Book of Life

We learn more by looking for the answer
to a question and not finding it
than we do from learning the answer itself.
- Lloyd Alexander

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

Half of everything you were ever taught is wrong;
the question is which half.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Lessons from Life

The Nature of Learning
     

Hate Returns Upon Itself

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

When we hate our enemies, we are
giving them power over us:
power over our sleep, our appetites,
our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness.
Our enemies would dance with joy if only
they knew how they were worrying us,
lacerating us, and getting even with us!
Our hate is not hurting them at all,
but our hate is turning our own days
and nights into a hellish turmoil.
- Dale Carnegie

You never hate that which you do not first fear.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

An "enemy" is a mirage -
an image of self reflected on the sands of Hell.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Hate returns upon itself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Allow Love to Conquer Hate

Revenge, the Deadliest Sin?

Hatred vs. Love

Burned by Your Own Anger
  

Don't Doubt Your Power

When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.
- Honore De Balzac

Live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation.
- Bertrand Russell

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak.
Strong convictions precede great actions.
- Louisa May Alcott

Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences.
No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.
- Thomas Huxley

Action is our greatest weapon against fear.
Left to molder, fear grows upon itself,
but in the face of action,
fear is left in the dust.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Action Beats Inaction

Be an Instrument of Change

Feel Your Power

How to Gain Self Confidence
   

Why Would You Expect Life to be "Fair?"

There is a secret wisdom-of-the-ages
that holds the key to breaking our cycle of self-imposed suffering.
The secret wisdom is, "Life is not supposed to be fair."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

"Why?" is the most useless question in the universe.
The only question with any meaning is "What?"
Asking "Why is this happening?" can only disempower you.
Asking "What do I want to make of this?" does exactly the opposite.
- Neale Donald Walsch

The less I take the difficulties of my life as personal affront,
and the more I use them as an opportunity to learn and grow...
the easier I sleep at night.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Circumstances just happen to us.
What we get to choose is our response.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie (paraphrasing Epictetus)

Further reading: Complaining Only Makes You Miserable

Break Your Cycle of Self-Inflicted Suffering

You Are Not A Victim

What One Emphasizes

My thoughts on "Life is not supposed to be fair."
  

Caring for the Least of These

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.
- Jesus (Matthew 25:40)

There are moments when the heart is generous,
and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here,
one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
- Wendell Berry

Love your neighbor as yourself.
- Jesus (Mathew 22:39)

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
Our religion is defined by how we choose to treat the Least of These.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feed the Hungry

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

We Belong to Each Other

What is Your Religion?
   

Is Fear Holding You Back?

The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.
- Joseph Campbell

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past
have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
- George S. Patton

There is no certainty; there is only adventure.
- Roberto Assagioli

We all have a fear of the unknown.
What one does with that fear makes all the difference in the world.
- Lillian Russell

Ask yourself: How is fear (fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of the unknown, etc.) holding you back in life?

Further reading: Choose To Be Fearless

A Life Without Fear

Life's Daring Adventure
   

Keep Stillness

In the midst of movement and chaos,
keep stillness inside of you.
- Deepak Chopra

Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen -
that stillness becomes a radiance.
- Morgan Freeman

To know the whole world is nothing
when it is compared to knowing your own inner mystery of life.
- Osho

Step back from the clamor.
Step back from the urgency.
Step back from the anger.
Step back from the fear.
Step back into the knowing and the love.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Accepting This Moment

Living in Peace

Finding God in Silence

Granting Space
  

Beyond Your Point of View

Your point of view sets you up well in advance
for how you view the events as they unfold.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth.
- Ludwig Boerne

Let light shine through the cracks
in the armor of your staunchest beliefs.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Belief - Point-of-View

Experts and Authorities

Don't Be Too Sure

The Illusion of Knowledge
    

Step Back

Take a step back,
evaluate what is important,
and enjoy life.
- Teri Garr

Laughter gives us distance.
It allows us to step back from an event,
deal with it and then move on.
- Bob Newhart

At some point everything gets a little stale
and you have to step away from it.
- Les Claypool

Winners have the ability to step back
from the canvas of their lives
like an artist gaining perspective.
- Denis Waitley

Put some distance between yourself
and whatever is concerning you.
Distance in space or time
always creates a new perspective.
Take time to contemplate -
away from the opinions and influence of others -
what you really want
and what you believe to be important in your life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Appreciating the Commonplace

Kick Back

Through the Eyes of Another

Perspective on Diversity
   

Strive to Learn

All men should strive to learn before they die,
what they are running from, and to, and why.
- James Thurber

A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place
but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed
toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.
- John Ciardi

We tell lies when we are afraid...
afraid of what we don't know,
afraid of what others will think,
afraid of what will be found out about us.
But every time we tell a lie,
the thing that we fear grows stronger.
- Williams Tad

Re-examine all that you have been told...
dismiss that which insults your soul.
- Walt Whitman

Further reading: A Truly Successful Life

Why Are You Going?

Eyes on the Heavens

Choosing a Joyful Life

To Serve
  

The Path of Excellence

Excellence is the result of
caring more than others think wise,
risking more than others think safe,
dreaming more than others think practical,
and expecting more than others think possible.
- Anonymous

Good enough never is.
- Debbi Fields

Infinite striving to be the best is man's duty;
it is its own reward.
Everything else is in God's hands.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.
- Thomas Merton

Excellence is not a destination to be arrived at,
but a path of continual attention and improvement.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's affirmation:
While I choose never to be dissatisfied or unhappy
with my current level of knowledge or accomplishment,
I constantly seek excellence in all domains that truly matter to me.

Further reading: Fake It 'Til You Make It

5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits

Do Not Compare

My Highest Aspirations
  

Peacemakers

Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
- Jesus (Matthew 5:7,9)

The Christian gospel is a summons to peace,
calling for justice beyond anger,
mercy beyond justice,
forgiveness beyond mercy,
love beyond forgiveness.
- Wendell Berry

It isn't enough to talk about peace.
One must believe in it.
And it isn't enough to believe in it.
One must work at it.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
- St Francis of Assisi

Further reading: Love All, Judge None

Hatred vs. Love

Cherish the Earth

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
   

Boredom: Enemy of Happiness

The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

When people are bored it is primarily with themselves.
- Eric Hoffer

It is only a step from boredom to disillusionment,
which leads naturally to self-pity, which in turn ends in chaos.
- Manly Hall

Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time;
serenity, that nothing is.
- Thomas Szasz

For those who are bored with life,
the path to happiness almost always comes
through service to the less-fortunate.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How can I find what my happiness is supposed to be or look like?

Nothing to look forward to?

Break Old Patterns of Action

Overcome Being Negative
  

Opportunity for Brotherhood

The opportunity for brotherhood presents itself every
time you meet a human being.
- Jane Wyman

I do not want the peace that passeth understanding.
I want the understanding which bringeth peace.
- Helen Keller

We must all hang together,
or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
- Benjamin Franklin

The idea of brotherhood re-dawns upon the world
with a broader significance
than the narrow association of
members in a sect or creed.
- Helen Keller

We all share unity with each other
and with the one Creator Spirit.
We are one.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: One Human Race

All Brothers and Sisters

Radiating Light and Love

Each Other's Eyes
   

Time for Renewal

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life,
your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
- Rabindranath Tagore

When It’s Darkest, Men See the Stars.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly -
spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity
to renew itself and create order.
- Susan Taylor

Today's affirmation:
I shine my light of happiness into the darkness of negativity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Realizing Success

Nothing to look forward to?

Every Day, a New Day

Is Hope Futile?
  

Thank You, God

Appreciate again and again, freshly and naively,
the basic goods of life, with awe,
pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy,
however stale these experiences may have become to others.
- Abraham Maslow

Abundance is not something we acquire.
It is something we tune into.
- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself.
- Tecumseh

Thank you, God, for this good life
and forgive us if we do not love it enough.
- Garrison Keillor

Further reading: Appreciating Today

Thank You Prayer

Thankful Heart

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life
   

Comfort on Difficult Days

This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
Laughter to kiss your lips,
Sunsets to warm your heart,
Hugs when spirits sag,
Beauty for your eyes to see,
Friendships to brighten your being,
Faith so that you can believe,
Confidence for when you doubt,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
Love to complete your life.
- Anonymous

Calm provides clarity. Pause to consider
the gifts you have been given,
the difference you have made
and the direction in which you are headed.
- Anonymous

Lord, grant comfort, joy and health
to those I call friend,
to those I call enemy,
and to those I have cursed by my indifference.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

Offering Comfort

Giving Unconditional Love

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation
   

You Need Dreams and Enthusiasm

You've got to have dreams to keep you going.
- Steve Waugh

Enthusiasm is not the same as just being excited.
One gets excited about going on a roller coaster.
One becomes enthusiastic about creating and building a roller coaster.
- Bo Bennett

If you have zest and enthusiasm
you attract zest and enthusiasm.
Life does give back in kind.
- Norman Vincent Peale

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age,
which means never losing your enthusiasm.
- Aldous Huxley

Further reading: Fulfilling Your Dreams

Do more of what inspires you

Learning from Failure

How to Motivate Yourself
   

The Natural World

To commit a crime against the natural world
is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.
- Patriarch Bartholomew

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
- William Shakespeare

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and cheer
and give strength to the body and soul.
- John Muir

Pay attention to rainbows, and snowflakes,
butterflies and the songs of birds,
the crash of storm-driven waves
and the mirror-surface of a quiet pond.
Let the depths of nature become a part of your innermost being.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Our Children's Earth

Nature's Messengers

One Great Dewdrop

All Things, One Breath
  

Finding Joy

Today is your day to dance lightly with life.
Sing wild songs of adventure.
Invite rainbows and butterflies out to play.
Soar your spirit and unfurl your joy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happiness is not something ready made.
It comes from your own actions.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued,
is always just beyond your grasp,
but which, if you will sit down quietly,
may alight upon you.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Life is a tragedy full of joy.
- Bernard Malamud

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

Today is Your Day

Love All of Life

Dancing Through Life
    

Measure of Your Heart

Heart is wonder and discovery, it's openness,
it's inclusivity, creativity, passion, obsession, service.
- Megan Smith - Chief Technology Officer of the United States

The brightest stars are those who
shine for the benefit of others.
- Anonymous

To measure the man, measure his heart.
- Malcolm S. Forbes

The heart, not the head, must be the guide.
- Arthur Erickson

A good head and a good heart
are always a formidable combination.
- Nelson Mandela

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
- Albert Einstein

Today's affirmation: All people are my heart-felt brothers and sisters.

Further reading: Live from Your Heart

Love Tenderly

The Universal Sacrament of Compassion
    

Loving Life NOW

I have found that if you love life,
life will love you back.
- Arthur Rubinstein

Life isn't about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
- George Bernard Shaw

Start living now.
Stop saving the good china
for that special occasion.
Stop withholding your love
until that special person materializes.
Every day you are alive is a special occasion.
Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.
- Mary Manin Morrissey

Let your light shine. Fulfill the promise that is within you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Life is a Song

A Happy Life

Being Fully Present in TODAY
    

Helping is what Life is About.

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get.
- from "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts

Helping someone is what life is all about.
- Willie Stargell 

You have two hands.
One for helping yourself,
the other for helping others.
- Audrey Hepburn

The more love that is given, the more love returns.
The more a helping hand is given, the more hands
are strengthened and empowered to help.
We can help each other to all be winners.
We can all have food, and jobs, and love, and happiness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: To Serve

To Be a Faithful Follower of Jesus

Making a Difference

Serving Others

We Belong to Each Other
 

For Future Generations

Let us be protectors of creation,
protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature,
protectors of one another, and of the environment.
- Pope Francis

Jesus preached more and taught more
about helping the poor and the sick and the hungry
than he did about heaven and hell.
Shouldn't that tell us something?
- John Grisham

The love of money is the root of all evil:
which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things;
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
- Timothy 6:10-11

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
- Matthew 25:40

The ultimate test of a man's conscience
may be his willingness to sacrifice something today
for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.
- Gaylord Nelson

Further reading: Our Children's Earth

The Least Of These

Everything is God

Unity with Spirit and All Creation
    

Filled with Love

I Dream This Day of Wondrous Things,
of Peace and Hope and Pride.
I Dance My Dance with Life Today,
I'm Filled with Love Inside.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It is not the magnitude of our actions
but the amount of love
that is put into them that matters.
- Mother Teresa

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news.
The good news is that you don't know how great you can be!
How much you can love!
What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!
- Anne Frank

True love doesn't come to you it has to be inside you.
- Julia Roberts

Further reading: The Power of Unconditional Love

Living from Your Heart

Beauty Lives Inside Us
  

Charity: To Do God's Work

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
- Matthew 25:40

Let us touch the dying, the poor,
the lonely and the unwanted
according to the graces we have received
and let us not be ashamed
or slow to do the humble work.
- Mother Teresa

When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes,
we must try charity, which is love in action.
We must speculate no more on our duty,
but simply do it.
When we have done it, however blindly,
perhaps Heaven will show us why.
- Dinah Maria Mulock

No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.
- Abraham Lincoln (attributed)

Further reading: Know that You have been Blessed

Making a Difference

Being of Service

This God Called Money

Material Possessions
    

Fly Your Dreams, Today

If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right,
you'll probably never do much of anything.
- Win Borden

Every day is a new beginning -
a day for a new plan and new action.
If today, in conscious awareness, you choose
the same plan as yesterday, you are wise.
If you choose a different plan, you are equally wise.
Whatever you choose, choose with intention.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You are the Michelangelo of your own life.
The David that you are sculpting is you.
And you do it with your thoughts.
- Joe Vitale

Life Begins When You Do.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Choose to soar. Choose to fly your dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be Simply Yourself

Approve of Yourself

How to Deal with Rejection

Success Tip: Drive Change
 

Choose to Dance

When you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance.
- Mark Sanders and Tia Siller - performed by Lee Ann Womack

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor.
It's to enjoy each step along the way.
- Wayne Dyer

Life may not be the party we hoped for,
but while we are here we might as well dance.
- Anonymous

Further reading: Appreciating Today

Finding Joy in Our Troubled Lives

Choose to Love Life

Dancing Through Life

Light of God

I will gather myself around my faith,
for light does the darkness most fear.
- Jewel

All the darkness of the world cannot
extinguish the light of a single candle,
yet one candle can illuminate all the darkness.
- Jewish Hanukah Prayer

Trust in the Light.
Darkness is not a force -
it is merely the absence of light.
Observe that when a light is brought to a dark place,
the darkness disappears.
Sadness is similar -
when joy is brought to suffering, the sadness disappears.
Open yourself to the Light!
Hold back nothing, Trust in the Light.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Exercise: Write your most worrisome trouble on a piece of paper and feed it to the fire. Send your troubles up in smoke. Breathe deeply and rejoice.

Further reading: Have a Conversation With God, Today

Radiating Light and Love

A Light from Within

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation